Failures of the EU Neet Plan

THE PROGRAM TO SUPPORT YOUTH DEVELOPMENT, LAUNCHED IN 2014, HAS PROVEN INEFFECTIVE. PAOLO GRAZIANO EXPLAINS WHY


The economic crisis has made it even more difficult for people under 25 to access to the labor market. With the European youth unemployment rate above 23%, 7,5 million people between 15 and 24 years old are not engaged in employment, education or training. It is natural to ask what are the European policies on the subject of youth unemployment. Paolo R. Graziano did it in a strand of research that includes Promoting Social Europe? The Development of European Youth Unemployment Policies, co-authored with Christian Lahusen and Natalia Schulz.

“The paper is based around three main elements”, Graziano says. “Firstly, Europe has not taken the problem seriously enough up to 2014. Protection policies were drawn up too late and without taking into account all the cases that range from young people lacking training to qualified young workers who can not access to the labor market. Secondly, young persons have always been treated as marginal subjects in social policies. Thirdly, austerity has further disadvantaged young people, especially those who live in southern Europe”.

In 2014, the Youth Guarantee was launched in countries with employment rates over 25%. It is a commitment to ensure that the so called Neet (Not in Education, Employment or Training) under the age of 25 years receive a good quality offer of apprenticeship, education and employment. “It is a sign of discontinuity from the traditional programs”, Graziano says. “Yet there are implementations flaws that limit its effectiveness. It requires a multilevel governance that weakens the effect of the program”. In Italy, 1,367,430 young people applied. Only 947,585 have entered the Youth Guarantee scheme of which 53,2% have received an offer. “There are some other criticalities. The process for getting in touch with companies is rather complex and the scheme offers a paid employment for six months that hardly leads to a permanent contract”.

Read more about this topic
Guido Tabellini. Searching for the Idea of Europe
Interview with Mario Nava. The Integration Agenda to Come
Francesco Daveri. What Could Hamper the Recovery and the Return of Confidence
Paola Profeta. Tax Rates Are Not Political Party Members
Tommaso Monacelli. And if a Monetary Union Is Better?
Elena Carletti. Public Debt: Lessons from Greece
Oreste Pollicino. The Judges and the European Web
Leonardo Borlini. Terrorism and Conflicting Laws
 

by Claudio Todesco